Sir William Lynch (c. 1730 – 25 August 1785) was a British diplomat and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

between 1762 and 1780. Lynch was the eldest son of John Lynch, DD

Dean of Canterbury The Dean of Canterbury is the head of the Chapter of the Cathedral of Christ Church, Canterbury, England. The current office of Dean originated after the English Reformation, although Deans had also existed before this time; its immediate precur ...

, and his wife Mary Wake, daughter of

William Wake William Wake (26 January 165724 January 1737) was a priest in the Church of England and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1716 until his death in 1737. Life Wake was born in Blandford Forum, Dorset, and educated at Christ Church, Oxford. He took ...

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

.''Parishes: Staple'', The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 9 (1800)
pp. 185–190. Date accessed: 22 November 2010. Lynch was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Weobley Weobley ( ) is an ancient settlement and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. Formerly a market town, the market is long defunct and the settlement is today promoted as one of the county's black and white villages owing to its abundance of ...

at a by-election in 1762, and held the seat until

1768 Events January–March * January 9 – Philip Astley stages the first modern circus, with acrobats on galloping horses, in London. * February 11 – Samuel Adams's circular letter is issued by the Massachusetts House of Rep ...

. He was then elected MP for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

and held the seat until

1774 Events January–March * January 21 – Mustafa III, List of Ottoman Sultans, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, dies and is succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I. * January 27 ** An angry crowd in Boston, Massachusetts seizes, tars, and f ...

. He was then returned again as MP for Weobley until he resigned in March 1780. In September 1768 Lynch was appointed envoy extraordinary to the court of Turin and served from 1769 to 1776. He was appointed

Knight of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...

, and a

privy counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the British monarchy, sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises Politics of the United King ...

. In 1780, he inherited the Manor of Stalisfield, until his death. Lynch lived at The Groves at

Staple, Kent Staple is a village and civil parish in east Kent, England. The village lies southwest of the nearby village of Ash and the town of Sandwich, and east of Canterbury. History The village is west of the Bronze Age site at Ringlemere and east of ...

, where he made great improvements, adding two wings to the house and adding a new front of stucco. He built up a collection of pictures. He created parkland in the grounds and made extensive plantations. Lynch died at

Barèges Barèges (; oc, Varètja, , in the Gascon dialect) is a communes of France, commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées departments of France, department, administrative regions of France, administrative region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitan ...

in the south of France, where he went to drink the waters, and was interred at Staple in Kent.The Gentleman's magazine, Volume 58
/ref> Lynch married Mary Coke, daughter of Edward Coke of Canterbury, but had no issue.

References

1730s births 1785 deaths British diplomats Year of birth uncertain Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1768–1774 People from Stalisfield Green {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub